TGS 09: Quantum Theory Update

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Gears of War with a twist.

By Daemon Hatfield

We got to spend some quality time with Tecmo's version of Gears of War at its TGS booth today. Quantum Theory is a third-person shooter that, at first glance, bears more than a striking resemblance to Microsoft and Epic's macho, over-the-shoulder alien shooter. One major difference: Quantum Theory is a PlayStation 3 exclusive. So you might look at it as "Gears of War for the Sony kids." We played the crap out of two levels today and came away with a better feel for two of the game's major features: teamwork with your lady partner and the moving environments of the tower.

First, a quick refresh. Quantum Theory is a mix of sci-fi and fantasy set mostly inside a sinister tower after an apocalypse has turned the world into a wasteland. Our hero, Syd, has come to destroy this tower and the very Locust-like monsters within. Early in the game he meets the lovely Filena, and while they don't get along at first they soon have to work together and use various team-up attacks in order to fend off the bad guys. However, the campaign is a single-player experience, so don't expect any Resident Evil 5ish co-op play here. There is a team-based multiplayer mode outside the campaign, but you'll be playing through the story alone.

The tower has a literal twist to it. From time to time the environments will mutate and move, creating new obstacles for Syd to deal with. In the stage we played today, no sooner had we popped off a few creeps before the landscape churned up a bridge that gave us access to the upper level of the room. Handy, right? Except as we were making our way up the bridge it snapped off and spun around again. During these moments you definitely can fall off the moving platform – possibly to your death, sending you back to the last checkpoint. There are also some old school, hardcore platforming challenges here that will show you no mercy. As the bridge spun around there was a small window Syd was supposed to jump through. We didn't realize it the first play through and, too bad, we were cast down into the pit below and had to restart.

The other level we played showcases the importance of using your team-up attacks with Filena. After moving through a pretty standard series of skirmishes (including one that introduced the game's gun turrets) we encountered a boss that can't be defeated by regular gun fire alone. But by tossing Filena at him we could get him to grab her, thereby revealing a weak spot on his hands we could blast away.

The weapons we've encountered so far are pretty standard third-person shooter fare: pistol, machine gun, shotgun, bazooka, and sniper rifle. To zoom in with the rifle you pull the L2 button, and how hard you pull determines the amount of zoom.

As we kept playing, the Gears of War similarities kept coming. From behind Syd and his tree trunk arms could very well be Marcus Fenix. The blood spray off his body even looks the same. Here's a difference, though: the fallen enemies explode in a spray of snot instead of remaining for you to kick around and point out flaws with the physics engine.

We haven't yet played the multiplayer game, but each team will have a Filena character as their leader and it will be the other players' objective to protect her. Tecmo also tells us that there are sections of the game where Syd will venture outside of the tower to explore the wasteland.

Quantum Theory is looking a little rough at this point, but it's still got a while before it's on store shelves. The living tower is an interesting idea we look forward to investigating further.